Damnation Alley

This notoriously hard to get (at least legitimately) movie follows the travails of five nuke apocalypse survivors in the late 1970s. Their task is to drive their armored personnel vehicle cum Winnabago from Bakersfield CA to Albany NY. On the way they stop off in Vegas, Salt Lake City and Detriot bumping into maniac mutant cockroaches and some radioactive hillbillies along the way. 99% of the time the sky is a swirling orangish red that transfers its Gatorade hues to most sequences in this movie. The locations are all dust, sand and rock... this is after all Damnation Alley and the Earth has been tilted off its axis. An absolute trash B movie that I'm sure many of those associated with would rather forget, it is nonetheless hugely compelling. After viewing you can appreciate the cult classic status of this film, yet to not be entirely sure why that is so.

Damnation Alley was quite an unlucky movie seemingly, it was put out with the idea that it would be another profitable sci-fi b-movie but unfortunately for it, a few weeks before it was released a movie called Star Wars was released which changed the rules for sci-fi forever more. To be honest though, I kind of like this one. It has its own significant factors too, for instance it's quite early in the cycle of post-apocalypse movies - the Mad Max series certainly seems to have borrowed some of its ideas – and so I think it's fair to say that its core look and feel went on to be used in quite a few similar movies in the 80's. Its story starts with a nuclear war devastating the world, leaving a small band of survivors in a desert outpost. After a while they are forced to set off on a journey to try and find other survivors in an all-terrain vehicle.

This one has a plot that boils down to a succession of set-pieces strung together along a hazardous trek. It's essentially a road movie...without a road. Along the way our heroes battle giant scorpions, swarms of flesh-eating cockroaches, mutant feral humans and they endure an electrical storm. They also pick up a woman and an incredibly annoying teenage boy. The film is chock full of corny dialogue and charmingly poor special effects but it remains entertaining nevertheless with good pacing and enough variety of events to ensure things remain interesting. It has to be admitted though that it does end with a very poorly conceived conclusion that felt like it was tagged on because the original idea was too expensive. But on the whole, I found this to be good fun mainly, certainly a fair bit better than its poor reputation suggests.

Wowza!

Now this movie aint great (far from it) but it aint horrid either. Just yer basic post nuclear sci-fi apocalypse survival flick.

Survivors get from point A to point B with a bunch of trouble in between. The trouble actually doesn't add up to much (look for roaches!) and the acting and storyline are at a minimum....BUT!!!!!!

The following things kicked ass!:

Beginning!--->creepy slow suspense as the world faces nuclear destruction!

Score!--->Great music sets the tone for the scenes (saving many)

Sky FX!--->tripped out! The skies are the best looking I've seen in any apocalyptic movie...way cool!

The SUV!!--->They actually built this thing! it works and works great! No scale model here, although I'm sure its looks are best viewed on the outside, but its done well, not cheap, handles the road great, and if i could find one, I'd buy it (look carefully at wheel design....amazing!)

Dats it, Dats all. B-movie sci-fi fun. No brainer..great for 2 for 1 rental, follow it with something that will get brain workin again.

I enjoy this every time I watch it. Science Fiction with some very good and some mediocre visual effects. The cast does a good job. I liked the vehicle the "Landmaster." Jack Earle Haley, the kid in this movie is currently in a series on television, and it's pretty good. Most of the movie takes place as the people go from one place to another in the Landmaster, and the people and things they meet. Jan Michael Vincent and Haley get some motorcycle riding in. This was out of print for some while, also the newest DVD of this movie is slightly different than the one I originally saw. It is well worth the price of a rental, check it out and see what you think.

OK, In some ways I can see why people hate this movie, especially if it is viewed nowadays since the new era of digital movie-making.

The acting was acceptable but could have been better.

The cinematography was ok and, yes the "special effects" were cheezy; let's be honest here; the scorpions were back projected, and the cockroaches were plastic props dragged on the ground by strings. How much more cheezy can you get?

Like the one commenter said: this movie is a great Saturday Afternoon Matinee. I agree. Get out the movie goodies and sit back and have some fun.

I don't watch this movie for being a 'B' classic, the acting, the cinematography, or even the storyline, not to mention the cheezy special effects; I watch it time and again because I love to see the Landmaster in action. The Landmaster is the Star of the movie in my book.

The movie shows it having a shower and bunks and other amenities including space enough to carry the dirt bike easily. I can tell you now that those parts of the movie are just Hollywood Hype because the Landmaster's engine compartment takes up most of the foreward section and the rear section could not possibly "house" the rest of what seemed to be in it. But, the real joy is in its mechanics and the fact that it 'was' amphibious. When the rubber center section was in place it did float and it did use the tri-wheels like a paddle-wheel boat on the Mississippi River.

The real joy in this movie, for me, IS the Landmaster.

It would be great to have the movie come out in DVD for better quality viewing. Having the soundtrack would be a great plus as well. But, like Galaxy Quest, the thing I would enjoy the most is to be able to 'buy' and enjoy building a scale model of the Landmaster (and the Galaxy Quest ship). These two wonderful vehicles would be a joy to build and have in my model cabinet. Too bad no one has seen fit to put these on the market.

To conclude, this was a fair movie and quite realistic in it's time. The cockroaches devouring Paul Winfield was quite gross then, but is nothing compared to today's movies. Take Starship Troopers for instance; Cheezy storyline, highly "in-your-face" gore, and not too different in believability but, a great Saturday Afternoon Matinee.

As a matter of note, the Landmaster was built in 1973 for a price of $300,000.00 and starred in Damnation Alley in 1974. The Landmaster has been in several commercials and was also seen in at least 2 other movies, of which I have seen bits and pieces of but don't know the names. Dean Jefferies told me of the dates and cost and also of the other engagements it was involved in. Also, in 1999 it was all rusty and in poor shape. It was undergoing refurbishment at the time and some slight modifications and dressing up. Dean Jefferies told me, then, that it was going to be used in a promotional, but I didn't get to find out what it was. I've seen and photographed it recently and it is dressed with missile pods and other stuff from it's fame in Damnation Alley. The only thing not installed is the rubber flex mid-section, and, of course, all the Hollywood extras that seemed to be installed for the movie.